THE TOWN MOUSE AND THE COUNTRY MOUSE

 


141. THE TOWN MOUSE AND THE COUNTRY MOUSE  A town mouse and a country mouse were acquaintances, and the country mouse one day invited his friend to come and see him at his home in the fields. The town mouse came, and they sat down to a dinner of barleycorns and roots, the latter of which had a distinctly earthy flavor. The fare was not much to the taste of the guest, and presently he broke out with “My poor dear friend, you live here no better than the ants. Now you should just see how I fare! My larder is a regular horn of plenty. You must come and stay with me, and I promise you, you shall live on the fat of the land.” So when he returned to town he took the country mouse with him and showed him into a larder containing flour and oatmeal and figs and honey and dates. The country mouse had never seen anything like it, and sat down to enjoy the luxuries his friend provided. But before they had well begun the door of the larder opened and someone came in. The two mice scampered off and hid themselves in a narrow and exceedingly uncomfortable hole. Presently, when all was quiet, they ventured out again; but someone else came in, and off they scuttled again. This was too much for the visitor. “Good-bye,” said he, “I’m off. You live in the lap of luxury, I can see, but you are surrounded by dangers; whereas at home I can enjoy my simple dinner of roots and corn in peace.”


142. THE LION AND THE BULL  A lion saw a fine fat bull pasturing among a herd of cattle and cast about for some means of getting him into his clutches. So he sent him word that he was sacrificing a sheep, and asked if he would do him the honor of dining with him. The bull accepted the invitation, but, on arriving at the lion’s den, he saw a great array of saucepans and spits, but no sign of a sheep; so he turned on his heel and walked quietly away. The lion called after him in an injured tone to ask the reason, and the bull turned round and said, “I have reason enough. When I saw all your preparations it struck me at once that the victim was to be a bull and not a sheep.” The net is spread in vain in sight of the bird.


143. THE WOLF, THE FOX, AND THE APE  A wolf charged a fox with theft, which he denied, and the case was brought before an ape to be tried. When he had heard the evidence on both sides, the ape gave judgment as follows: “I do not think,” he said, “that you, 0 wolf, ever lost what you claim. But all the same I believe that you, fox, are guilty of the theft, in spite of all your denials.” The dishonest get no credit, even if they act honestly.


144. THE EAGLE AND THE COCKS There were two cocks in the same farmyard, and they fought to decide who should be master. When the fight was over the beaten one went and hid himself in a dark corner, while the victor flew up onto the roof of the stables and crowed lustily. But an eagle espied him from high up in the sky, and swooped down and carried him off. Forthwith the other cock came out of his corner and ruled the roost without a rival. Pride comes before a fall.


145. THE ESCAPED JACKDAW  A man caught a jackdaw and tied a piece of string to one of its legs, and then gave it to his children for a pet. But the jackdaw didn’t at all like having to live with people; so, after a while, when he seemed to have become fairly tame, and they didn’t watch him so closely, he slipped away and flew back to his old haunts. Unfortunately, the string was still on his leg, and before long it got entangled in the branches of a tree and the jackdaw couldn’t get free, try as he would. He saw it was all up with him, and cried in despair, “Alas, in gaining my freedom I have lost my life.”

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